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Original poster

Our first family cat(s) - how to find a friendly cat?

43 replies

minipie · 13/08/2019 14:43

We’ve got children age nearly 7 and 4.5 and would love to get a cat (I’d prefer a pair) fairly soon.

I grew up with Burmese cats and love that they are so friendly and welcome human attention. Both my DC love animals and one in particular will happily spend hours stroking a cat if it will let her (she knows it’s up to the cat!)

I am wondering what is the best route to finding a very friendly cat or two. I know there are no guarantees but would like to maximise the chances.

Do we look at Burmese and similar breeds with known attention loving temperaments? Or do we go to a rescue for kittens - ethically preferable but much wider variety of personalities? We could look at young adult rescue cats who are said to be friendly, but then are less likely to find a pair, plus many seem to be unsuitable for families.

We would like the cats to be able to go out in the garden, we live mid terrace so it’s fairly safe I think, but I know some breeders will only accept indoor homes.

I am at home but may return to part time work sometime next year (not until any kittens are grown/settled of course).

Any advice welcome please.

OP posts:
MrsBertBibby · 13/08/2019 21:55

I'm a bit in love with Boo and Bear

www.cats.org.uk/caterham/adopt-a-cat/?cid=258740

viccat · 13/08/2019 22:19

It's worth contacting charities even if you don't see the perfect cats on their website; at least at the rescue where I volunteer, the super friendly, child-proof cats often find homes very quickly and don't make it onto the website.

And on the male/female thing - I have two boys and two girls and the boys are definitely more laid-back, cuddly and get along great. No spraying issues, both were neutered early though.

Original poster
minipie · 13/08/2019 22:20

Yes it was Freya and Timmy Grin

I haven’t looked through all yet but CP looks good so far

I may have jumped the gun slightly as we can’t get a cat till at least late Sep. So I mustn’t get set on any specific cat right now!

OP posts:
MrsBertBibby · 13/08/2019 22:24

Well CP will want to do a home visit first, so no harm in getting the ball rolling. They'll hold on to them if you find your cats straight away.

viccat · 13/08/2019 22:29

Depending on exactly where you are based (South London?) and if you don't mind travelling a bit, you could also try Celia Hammond, Feline Friends, The Catcuddles Sanctuary, Last Chance, and Croydon Animal Samaritans as well as the Cats Protection branches already mentioned.

Vinorosso74 · 13/08/2019 22:37

They do look vert sweet!
Just to clear something up from a PP. The CP adoption centres in London don't do home visits but nothing to stop you filling out homefinder forms and them doing relevant checks. You won't be able to reserve any cats until late September (you can reserve for 2 days). Don't go falling for any just yet Grin

FogCutter · 13/08/2019 22:52

When we visited our local rspca we asked them which cats were friendly and happy with young kids - they really seemed to know the cats well and the cats we chose (4yo) are lovely.

They let us adopt when DS was 4 (almost 5) as he'd been around cats before and was sensible with them.

FamilyOfAliens · 13/08/2019 22:57

@Wolfiefan

Katz Castle is permanently closed now - reasons unknown but all a bit mysterious.

cricketmum84 · 13/08/2019 23:02

Our local rescue has quite a few bonded pairs who are extremely friendly and sociable.

I would try your local one first. Adults especially as their personalities have developed by then and you know yet how friendly they are going to be :)

awsomeDean · 13/08/2019 23:03

If you are London based then try Celia Hammond, they were great when we got our boys. Really talked through our expectations and the reality of home etc. We were black listed by other rescues because we tried to regime MIL's cats when she went into a home and we still had an elderly cat and couldn't take it.

Original poster
minipie · 14/08/2019 08:14

Thanks guys. Yes south london. When it gets a bit closer to the time I’ll ring round the centres mentioned above close to us.

In the meantime I will need to stop cat browsing... !

OP posts:
Wolfiefan · 14/08/2019 11:39

Oh no @FamilyOfAliens we boarded our cats there for years and got our rescues from them. I did wonder as they were set up by a lady who wasn’t getting younger. It was a huge property and their running costs must have been astronomical. I will always be grateful for the two we got from there. A girl who was a mum at 6 months then handed into rescue with her kitten at 2 years. They spayed her and looked after both of them until we took them. We had 17 years with her. Much loved kitties. Sad

FamilyOfAliens · 14/08/2019 11:56

Same here Wolfie - had nothing but good experiences with them. I guess all will become clear in the fullness of time.

Wolfiefan · 14/08/2019 11:58

Shame for the animals. We nearly lost our local rescue place recently. Too many costs and not enough income.

CatNinja · 14/08/2019 14:01

I will jump on to echo what others have said about young adult rescue cats where you can find out more about their personalities.

We wanted to get our first family cat earlier in the year. My children are 9 and 7, and the main criteria for us was to get a cat that would be friendly and want to be around them and not spend the day avoiding them or hiding.

At the end of May we rescued a 3 year old female. She is a lovely family pet - she seems to much prefer being in whatever room people are in, even choosing to snooze on the sofa in the lounge when the boys are being really loud despite the fact she could go upstairs to the spare bed if she wanted to! She's always following us around, curious as to what we're up to, and loves to play games with the boys. We approached a local rescue telling them what we were looking for and they matched us with her perfectly!

awsomeDean · 14/08/2019 15:19

Try foal farm too

Phone soon as they can keep you in mind if the right cat comes up

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 14/08/2019 21:22

We got two young adults from CPL in May.
There are literally 1000s of cats out there , we looked on several websites (look at CatChat)
Celia Hammond does have a lot of TNR ferals or if they are homeable they can be shy cats . The kittens that come into the Rescues are more socialised but as everyone has said , you know what you're getting with adults.

There are two lovely tabby cats on CPL who are 15yo . Loads will be pet cats that maybe have had to go to Rescue by circumstance - moving, allergies, redundancy., illness , going into Res care ....then there's the ones who are rehomed when a baby arrives Sad

We have an adult household (my DC are 17 and 19) , live on a quiet road and a garden. We were fairly flexible with what cats we were looking for (just no long haired ) and got a brother/sister pair .

They aren't lapcats but they like to be in the same room as us. The male was very shy but he's come in in leaps , even deciding now to pooh in my tall plant pot (cheeky blighter Shock )

The cat is out there for you ...............you don't fancy a Bengal I suppose , huge thread about one on here .................

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 14/08/2019 22:07

Of course, they can be too friendly and take over your life and your bed as my DD has found Grin

"Mum, I have a problem, I cannot get into my own bed"

Our first family cat(s) - how to find a friendly cat?
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